The State Historical Society of Missouri has published a new digital interactive, Emancipation Day in the Missouri Ozarks, exploring the significance of June 19 and August 4 to African American freedom in Missouri and the United States.
“The August 4 celebration of Emancipation Day in Missouri dates back to the Civil War era,” said Gary R. Kremer, executive director of the State Historical Society of Missouri.
“Juneteenth celebrations in the Show-Me State are of more recent origins, dating to the 1970s,” he added.
Available online, Emancipation Day in the Missouri Ozarks takes viewers on a trip through counties that dot the Missouri Ozarks while detailing the origins and history of emancipation and the celebrations of Black Missourians after their fight for freedom. The interactive map can be viewed for free at shsmo.org/learn/emancipation-
“Our interactive map documents the evolution of emancipation gatherings in Missouri,” said Sean Rost, oral historian and project lead. “We hope people will engage with this map, not only to understand the origins of the federal holiday of Juneteenth but also how Missourians have commemorated emancipation throughout the Ozarks.”
The online interactive is the first of many projects to be released by the State Historical Society of Missouri that explore African American Heritage in the Ozarks, an initiative supported by an American Rescue Plan Act grant awarded to the Society through the National Endowment for the Humanities and Missouri Humanities.
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